The most popular cupcake bakery in Southern California is Sprinkles Cupcakes. I am not a big "sweets" person, but occasionally I would have some chocolates or a yummy looking dessert.

I have had Sprinkles Cupcakes before because people would buy them as gifts or have them at parties. My friends also buy them and I'll be there to share the yummy treats. I have never walked into the store and shell out over $3 for a cupcake. That, and when I am craving a cupcake, I get too lazy to drive to the nearest location.

What I love about Sprinkles Cupcakes is that give out free cupcakes daily! Every day, they post a secret word and the first 25 or 50 people who whisper the code gets a free cupcake! Easy! No hassle and no funny looks from the employees. You're not being frugal, just simply being a good dependable customer.

So, for the first time, I happened to be in Newport Beach around the same time they announced their daily secret word. My sister and I were all to excited to go get our free cupcakes before starting our hardcore study date at the Newport Public Library. I have never been to the store before and we both never attempted to whisper the secret code. (I just heard from my friend Joanna that it is a very simple transaction.) And it was sooo easy! The girl who rang us up was so nice! Cindy and I walked (practically skipped) out of there!

I love Sprinkle's packaging and design. Simple, yet chic.

They were giving away one of my favorite flavor, vanilla milk chocolate. It is not too sweet and has just enough chocolate. Yum! Some of their other flavors are just too sweet for my taste buds.

Yum! I was also introduced to their cute wooden (and recyclable) silverware! Cute!

Overall, good first in-store (and free) experience at Sprinkles Cupcakes!

Well, it's not May yet, but I was in the mood for creating simple fondant flowers after watching the Cake Boss boss on Rachel Ray's show this afternoon.

When attempting to make a spherical cake for my sister's boyfriend's birthday (see previous entry), I made an extra cake, just in case something went wrong. Luckily everything went smoothly but now I am left with an extra mini cake. It looked so perfect pre-decorated (I'm sad I didn't get a picture), but I was itching to play around with some of the leftover fondant I have... gotta use it before the fondant dries out!

I made the cover layer a bit too thin and you can see indentations and other ugly marks. I love how the fondant flowers and leaves curl and stay.

Now I don't know what to do with this cake? Who should I give it to?

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My sister is getting ready to take her first big boards exam for her medical degree (STEP 1). She has been locked away studying day and night and attending crazy prep courses to prepare for this day. She even moved her testing date earlier (therefore less studying time) to attend my Master's graduation from Cal State Fullerton!

So during one of my creative moments, I decided to make this card to wish her good luck on her studies.

I couldn't find thicker string so the piece of thread will have to do for now. Also, I wanted to write my message on vellum paper so that the flowers and butterflies will show through but I cannot find my vellum paper! I hate it when I misplace things. I ended up writing my message directly onto the card.

To surprise him on his birthday, I decided to create a soccer ball cake because Jack is British and loves to watch and to play soccer. (He is actually currently on his college's team.) Because I have never created a spherical cake before, this should be interesting. I did a lot of research and decided I did not want to buy a special pan. Instead I went searching for a Pyrex glass mixing bowl, which is round enough. Due to lack of time, I was not able to find a mixing bowl and had to settle for a rounded glass Tupperware container by Pyrex.

Jack likes carrot cake and since I've never made carrot cake before, this would be a fun time to try! I loved how the carrot cake's texture and density came out! It was so yummy... like a muffin! Because it was dense, I was able to carve and shape the cake into a half-sphere without any crumbs. First, I covered the cake with a thick layer of cream cheese frosting (just because carrot cake and cream cheese HAS to go together... yum!). Once that was settled, I outlined the pentagon and hexagon patterns onto the cake. The soccer ball pattern was surprisingly hard to figure out. Then I finished by piping the black spots on the cake.

Hmmm... something is missing. I decided overcome my laziness and also pipe in the white area of the soccer ball. I was glad Miss Amy was available via text/gchat to help me decide what looks best.

The soccer ball cake looks better already! By this time, my arm is ready to fall off from all the piping. But I needed to add the grass....

And a birthday message (I was too lazy by now to pipe the words on so handwritten Sharpie will do).... and voila!

One big downside of using buttercream... the clean-up. Such a big mess.

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I've also been meaning to post some of my other (non-edible) creations on here, but haven't found the time (or energy) yet.

This is a quick birthday card I made for Jack to go along with his cake.

I love DJ Inker. As a teacher, I think I have all of their cute fonts and a bunch of their clip-art collections. For the soccer ball in front, I wanted a 3-D sticker, but I didn't find one that I like during my one trip to Michael's Arts & Crafts this week. (I am kind of glad I don't live by a Michael's because I would be spending money there all the time!)

Cake: carrot cake with carrot-flavors bits, thick layer of whipped cream cheese frosting, and black and white buttercream icing on the outside of the cake

I just found a website that is just killing me tonight... Bake It Pretty has THE CUTEST baking supplies ever! I am dying! I want to buy everything in sight. The super cute polka-dot cupcake wrappers, the colorful drinking straws, the adorable suitcases... I can browse this website all day.

Just check out the website and you'll totally understand what I mean. I am sure non-bakers can appreciate a bit of fun and color in their lives!

I had the pleasure to help Miss Amy decorate a 3-tier (well, actually 4-tier) cake she made for her brother's wedding rehearsal dinner. The baking aspect of this cake was a ton of work! Each tier consists of 3-layers.

The decorating aspect was fun! I learned a lot about stacking multi-tiered cakes and coloring fondant. I also had a chance to play some more with fondant.

Her wedding rehearsal follows a 80s theme, which sounds so fun! Not only is the wedding party decked out in their 80s gear, they will have a rad cake to add to the celebration!

The top tier(s) is a multi-colored Rubric's cube that is in mid-twist. The second tier captures the neon bright colors that the 80s (and it is shown through their unforgettable clothing) is known for. The bottom tier features the all-time popular arcade game, Pac-Man and Ms Pac-Man, with a special twist-- we made the two characters of the game dress up in wedding formal outfits to fit the occasion. Creative, huh? I liked the idea too! Also on the cake is a special fondant-cassette, which reads, "Joe & Esther's Rad Wedding". (Thank you Jon for helping us!)

I am a bit sad that my camera was not able to capture how incredible this cake looks! Also, you can barely see the Rubric's cube in this picture. Look at all the details... this is the biggest creation for me!

Easter is this weekend, which means another excuse for me to create fun cupcakes for everybody! This time, I'm splitting them between my friend Joanna's Easter picnic and my boyfriend's Easter Lunch/Dinner.

I was not pleased with my cupcakes when I finished them the other night. There were a lot of mistakes, such as:

Buying normal size Whopper malted eggs instead of the mini ones

Forgetting to defrost the coconut shavings ahead of time

Being lazy and decided not to make any brown buttercream icing

Measuring the Peeps marshmallow chicks ahead of time

Finding smaller orange jellybeans so it would appear more "beak-like"

I think I was exhausted by the time I was done with the cupcakes because the next morning, the cupcakes looked SO much better. I'm actually kind of proud of them! Also, the people who tried the cupcakes this afternoon said they were tasty so I'm satisfied!

About Me

Contact Info

Email: LisaKLe@gmail.com

Google Chat: LisaKLe

Twitter: www.twitter.com/lisakle

About My Blog

I created this blog as a simple online journal to help me keep track of my fun creations. I never intended to make this blog public, but because many people have asked to see what I have done in the past, I've decided opened it up to everybody.
Feel free to contact me with questions, suggestions, or comments. Also, if you need me to create something for you, I am available for brainstorming. I would love to hear from you!
Lots of Love!